Cleveland, OH – Orthodox Man Builds Ohio Real Estate Empire

Cleveland, OH – Chaim Schochet is like many other 25-year-olds.

Married less than two years. The father of twin boys. A potential first-time homebuyer, weighing his native Miami Beach, Fla., against the low cost of living in the Midwest.

But Chaim Schochet is unlike any other 25-year-old in Cleveland.

He’s one of downtown’s largest landlords, an investment executive responsible for roughly 2.8 million square feet of office space owned by U.S. investors and the principals of a Ukranian business conglomerate.

In downtown Cleveland, he might be the most important guy you’ve never heard of.

Now Schochet (pronounced Show-het) has reluctantly agreed to step into the spotlight, participating in his first in-depth interviews since becoming the most aggressive buyer of buildings in the center city.

Since 2008, when Optima Ventures bought the chisel-shaped One Cleveland Center tower on East Ninth Street, Schochet has been its man on the ground.
Now Optima, a private company based in Miami, owns four office buildings here and a stake in a hotel — making the company a bigger player in the downtown office market than Cleveland-based real estate giant Forest City Enterprises Inc., according to data from local brokerage firms and regulatory filings.

Business associates describe Schochet as a hands-on operator, focused on understanding Cleveland and forging connections with key players in the city. In person, he’s shy. And restless, as if he’d rather be doing business than discussing it.

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